With punters given the option of staying home, topping up their accounts, watching live races, and placing their bets through the mobile betting platform MBet, some believe that Caymanas Park would lose its physical punter support on race days.

However, Solomon Sharpe, chairman for Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), said while the MBet product is growing, it does not affect the attendance at the racetrack on race days, even though the web-based platform has over 2,000 active accounts.

“MBet came in 2018, and that product has improved. I think we have about 2,000 users now coming from zero, and that’s a big number, and as the digital penetration in Jamaica increases and people feel more comfortable with that kind of platform, we will only get better and better,” Sharpe told the Jamaica Observer.

“It has not hurt our attendance at all, it has actually complemented it, and so this is the dynamic of a sport like this. You have people that come to the park and use MBet at the racetrack.

“Somebody sits down there; you don’t even know what they are betting on, you don’t even know why they are shouting; you don’t see them going to the window; but, yea, they are actively participating in the MBet product, and so that’s one of the ones for the future.

“You keep on hearing digital, digital, digital, and so that’s where we are going,” the SVREL chairman continued.

MBet, which is a web-based platform, allows punters to bet from any mobile device and place a full suite of bets on either local horse racing, or live simulcast racing from several overseas tracks, including Gulf Stream in Florida, Aqueduct in New York, and Woodbine in Canada.

“When you have a product like that on a digital platform, it gives you more distribution; it gives you more reach, and the MBet platform has a live feed not just for live racing but for simulcast, and that has made it more attractive to our patrons, and we continue to improve on that product as well.”

“MBet is what is called ADW, advanced deposit wagering.The MBet distribution in the United States is over 85 per cent, Jamaica is a little bit different, and so we started at zero and are up about eight or nine percent of the total throughput. What we want to do is continue to improve all the numbers and get MBet up to 25 per cent.

“And so we have a little bit of work to triple those numbers, but you know, it is not done over night, it is still a young product; it is still taking its route, and as I said, we have to increase digital penetration in this country, and once we get that, we will grow that product more,” explained Sharpe.

Donald Bahadur, one of the many users of MBet, said that while the mobile platform is convenient, it also affects the attendance at the racetrack as people can stay home and make wagers.

“It is very convenient, but the only problem I have with it is that when you go close to post time, you can’t get any bets as it takes a long time to process. I think people would rather stay home and place their bets because Caymanas Park is not conducive to a nice environment where you can go. You have people smoking, which is not good for the health, and so when it comes time for people to go and watch races, they would prefer to stay home, as you can bet, and watch races live, which is the same thing you would do at the track,” Bahadur told the Observer.

Ian Burnett, another user of MBet, said that the mobile platform is “super convenient” for him to use.

“MBet is very, very convenient. You don’t have to go to the track to place bets. You buy at your own pace and don’t have to join long lines or rush to place bets. Also, people will not be able to know which horse or horses you are betting on,” he said.